FEATURED WINE
‘Lapis’ Furmint’ 2009
Zoltán Demeter, Tokaj- Hegyalja
When the wall came down, Zoltán Demeter
was a Hungarian student, dreaming of a future
as a winemaker. Before 1989, that future in
Hungary would have involved working for one
of the huge state-run winemaking companies
whose primary mission was supplying the
Soviet Union with wine, and lots of it. But after
1989? Well, that was anyone's guess. So
Demeter, like so many others of his
generation, designed his own future on the
blank slate of a new nation.
Demeter completed his college studies in
Budapest and then decided he needed an
international education in winemaking,
something that had been inconceivable just a
few years before. He traveled first to Virginia,
where he says most of his time was spent
learning English, and preparing for a six
month stint at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in
Napa. From there, with rapidly improving
English, and an ever deepening understanding
of wine, Demeter got serious and went to
Beaune to study Viticulture and Enology, and
then went on to Brighton in the U.K. where he
studied wine marketing.
When he returned to Hungary in 1993, he was
27 years old, and with all the fire you'd expect
in the belly of a young man at the time, he set
about helping to remake an industry that for all
intents and purposes had been completely
destroyed by fifty years of Communist rule.
“We had to figure out the direction of the wine,
and what quality was moving forward. It was a
beginning for our region. Even though we
have 500 years of history, we had to renew it
and re-discover the wine, the vine, and the
quality" says Demeter.
Demeter worked first for a French company,
and then for Grof Degenfeld, an aristocratic
German-Hungarian family who, like everyone
else, lost their family's holdings in the Tokaj
region after the Second World War when the
Communists took over. From Degenfeld,
Demeter moved to a new winery project called
Kiralyudvar, where under the direction of
manager Istvan Szepsy and owner Anthony
Hwang he helped establish what has become
one of Hungary's most famous and pioneering
wineries of the modern era. At Kiralyudvar
Demeter and Szepsy first began making dry

white wines from the traditional grapes used to
make the world-famous Tokaj sweet wines, a
move that pointed towards a future for
Hungarian wine that is still being forged by
people like Demeter, and the generation that
has followed him into the business.

OCTOBER 2013
Welcome to our
newsletter of 2013.

fourth

quarter

WINE DINNERS
Tassili

In August we hosted our vegetarian dinner and
enjoyed some brilliant and healthy dishes from
Richard, matched with a great selection of
wines from around the world.
In September we offered some of Spain’s
greatest exports, paired with a delightful
tasting menu prepared by Richard and his
team.

Demeter began making wine under his own
name in 1998, but it was not until 2008 that he
decided he was ready to focus on his own
wines on a full time basis. Demeter's holdings
are spread across 9 different areas and 5
different villages in Hungary's Tokaj-Hegyalja
wine region, whose violently volcanic past has
produced a highly heterogeneous geology.
Demeter makes a dry white wine from each of
these soils, in what he sees as a race against
time to learn the terroir of Tokaj.
Demeter is widely regarded as one of the most
accomplished winemakers in Hungary, but
you'd never guess that listening to him talk.
“I'm studying myself, and teaching myself, but
the wine is teaching me. That is the main
target to catch the right position in the center
of terroir. I really believe that a winemaker has
only two decisions to make. One is when they
are going to cut the branch - to know when to
cut, you have to know what ripeness means in
a certain terroir - and with this cut you decide
everything. There is another small decision,
which is when to bottle. Everything else is a
gift.
Lapis is available from Dunells Premier Wines
for around £35 a bottle.

Autumn has proven to be a time of change for
us this year. Sarah Clarke has decided to move
to colder pastures with her partner and will
relocate to North Wales, she has been a star in
the kitchen and will be greatly missed. Rob
Wilton has joined the culinary team.
Raluca Dumitru has also decided to leave us
after four years in Tassili, she has decided to
travel and see some of the world before settling
down with her partner.
This is also the awards time of year and we are
delighted to announce that we have once again
retained our coveted Michelin star for the third
year running. The AA have also awarded our
wine list a ‘Notable’ wine list, one of only 236
establishments in the UK, and something we
are very proud of. Shaun Corrigan attended the
AA Hospitality Award dinner in Park Lane last
week and thoroughly enjoyed the event. Shaun
has also been lucky enough to go through to
the finals of the Academy of Food and Wine
Services’ ‘Restaurant Manager of the Year’,
which will took place on October 7th in
Mayfair. Shaun didn’t win but the experience
was very rewarding all the same.
Richard travelled to Belfast on 5th October to
cook at The Barking Dog restaurant group for
the Belfast Restaurant Week. Michael and
Gavin recently visited us from Ireland to learn
a little of Jersey’s produce and Richards
cooking style.
You can follow Richard on Twitter on
#tassilichef and like us on Facebook at Tassili
at Grand Jersey.

The next few months:
Thursday 31st October: The Wild Foods of
Jersey
Kazz Padidar will host our foraging dinner.
Kazz is an expert forager and has helped
develop our understanding of Jersey’s wild
foods. He will talk us through Jersey’s wild
plants and herbs.
Thursday 28th November: Burgundy Gala
Dinner
Our much anticipated black-tie Gala dinner is
almost here, and we invite our friend Michael
Palij to join us for what promises to be a night
to remember?
Thursday 12th December: Umami
Our last dinner of the year, we focus on the
‘fifth taste’ of Umami. For decades Umami was
dismissed as folly, but recent studies have
found a human synthesis with our senses and
the glutamate which is the main component of
this ‘savoury’ sensation.
Next year;
I have now finalised next years wine program
of twelve dinners and four master classes.

WINE MASTER CLASS

FEATURED RECIPE
Double Ginger Cake

FEATURED SUPPLIER
Louis Jackson at ‘The Fresh Fish Co.’

Ingredients;
250g self raising flour
2 tspns ground ginger
½ tspn ground cinnamon
½ tspn salt
1 tspn bicarbonate of soda
200g golden syrup
2 tspns stem ginger syrup (from the jar)
125g butter
3 lumps preserved stem ginger
125g dark muscouvado sugar
2 large eggs
240 ml milk
Next years calendar of wine master classes will
be events not to be missed. With a two hour
classroom tuition and wine tasting of six
wines, followed by a six course dinner paired
with amazing wines and food.
Saturday March 8th
Bordeaux with Mark Savage MV £150pp
Mark Savage is one of the UK’s leading wine
merchants and one of the best tasters I have
had the pleasure to meet. Mark will walk us
through the intricacies of Bordeaux’s varied
regions and its wines.
Saturday May 10th
Spain with Franck Massard £125pp
Franck runs ‘Epicure Wines’ based in Priorato
and now produces in many of Spain’s greatest
regions. Franck will present his wines to us
and explain his passion in detail.
Saturday June 14th
Soave with Stefano Inama £130pp
Stefano is a pioneer of Soave’s Sauvignon
revolution and he has become a regional
legend in Verona. Stefano will talk us though
the history of the region and present to us his
wonderful wines.
Saturday July 12th
Zoltán Demeter of Tokaj-Hegyalja £140pp
After assisting star wine maker István Szepsy,
Demeter was responsible for production at the
leading Tokaj estate Kiralyudvar. He is now
focusing on his own production, specialising
in dry, single vineyard Tokaji wines.

Method;
1. You will need a square cake tin measuring
approximately 20-22cm, lined on the bottom
with baking parchment or greaseproof paper.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Sift the flour with
the ground ginger, cinnamon, bicarbonate of
soda and salt.
3. Put the golden and ginger syrups and the
butter into a small saucepan and warm over
low heat. Dice the stem ginger finely, and then
add it to the pan with the sugar. Let the
mixture bubble gently for a minute, giving it
an occasional stir to stop the fruit sticking on
the bottom.
4. Break the eggs into a bowl, pour in the milk
and beat gently to break up the egg and mix it
into the milk.
5. Remove the butter and sugar mixture from
the heat and pour into the flour, stirring
smoothly and firmly with a large metal spoon.
Mix in the eggs and milk. The mixture should
be sloppy, with no trace of flour.
6. Scoop the mixture into the lined cake tin
and bake for 35-40 minutes, until a skewer
inserted in the centre of the cake come out
clean. Unless you are serving it warm, leave the
cake in its tin to cool, then tip it out onto a
sheet of greaseproof paper. Wrap it in foil and,
if you can, leave it to mature for a day or two
before eating.
Garnish with clotted cream or ice cream and a
glass of Tokaji 6 Puttonyos, Zoltán Demeter
from Hungary.

Supplying the season's best is fundamental to
the Fresh Fish Company. Fresh spider crabs in
the Summer months, particular to the Channel
Isles, these are a league above all others, local
mackerel, turbot, Dover sole, John Dory,
monkfish, scallops to rival any, are but a taste
of the range on offer.
“Although at times it is difficult to supply
locally caught fish, we appreciate Richard
Allen’s patience, because good things come to
those that wait.”………….. Louis Jackson

The Fresh Fish Company was established in
1999 by Louis Jackson, with the primary motive
being to supply local fish to hotels and
restaurants alongside the Fresh Fish Company
Fish Stall which is situated right alongside the
fish landing pier at Jersey Harbour.

“We are extremely proud to be associated with
Louis Jackson and The Fresh Fish Co. They
have been incredibly helpful in sourcing the
very best local fish and shellfish for Tassili
restaurant. Not only are they important
business partners, they are also a very nice
bunch of people to know.” ……... Richard
Allen

Since its inception the company ethics have
not changed;
‘To buy and supply as much locally caught fish
and shellfish as possible at all times.’
‘To play our part in the conservation of fish
and shellfish globally.’
‘To go the extra mile to source, for example
XXL live langoustines, and to make the effort
to gather ourselves local cockles and clams to
supply the Grand Jersey, to name but one.’
The business has developed hugely, now
supplying several top hotels and restaurants in
Oxford and London. Local fish and shellfish
are refrigerated and delivered within eighteen
hours, direct to the kitchens of some of the
UK's finest restaurants.